Carbon Sequestration in Irish Forest Ecosystems

The CARBiFOR project is currently compiling its results and outcomes and will shortly produce a final report. Otherwise the project is currently inactive.

CARBiFOR is a COFORD (the Council for Forest Research and Development) funded research project whose aim
is to quantify the sequestration ability of a number of Irish forest types. Across a series of chronosequence
sites the project takes measurements of carbon storage and loss from forest vegetation and soils. Eddy flux
determinations, combined with canopy photosynthesis measurements are carried out to determine net ecosystem
exchange. A comparison between the two methodologies will be used to provide predictions of the most effective
forestry management procedures for maximising carbon sequestration.

Research into the sequestration and storage of carbon in Irish forests is
vital because of the commitments entered into upon signing the Kyoto agreement.
Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, Ireland has agreed to reduce its CO2 emissions to 13%
above 1990 levels by the period 2008-2012. One of the proposed ways to mitigate CO2
increases in the atmosphere is through afforestation. Eddy flux determinations will
be combined with canopy photosynthesis measurements to determine net ecosystem exchange.
These will be combined with measurements of carbon losses from soils and vegetation to
provide predictions of the most effective forestry management procedures for maximising
carbon sequestration. The project (CARBiFOR II) is funded by COFORD -the Council for Forest
Research and Development, and continues the work begun by the first phase project CARBiFOR (2001-2004).

Carbon Sequestration is the net removal of CO2 from the atmosphere
into long-lived pools of carbon. In particular CARBiFOR are interested
in carbon sequestration by Irish forest ecosystems, i.e. into aboveground
and belowground tree and undergrowth biomass as well as into soil carbon stores.

The consortium of researchers are spread across the UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science and
the UCD School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, both based at the Belfield Campus,
UCD, Dublin. For details of location visit the UCD website.